Efficacy and safety of imatinib on top of BFM-like chemotherapy in pediatric patients with Ph+/BCR-ABL+ acute lymphoblastic leukemia (Ph+ALL). the EsPhALL study
Background. Philadelphia chromosome positive (Ph+) ALL accounts for 3-5% of pediatric ALL. An international survey on 640 children diagnosed between 1995 and 2005 and treated with chemotherapy and stem cell transplantation (SCT) without the use of tyrosin kinase inhibitors (TKI) recently reported an overall 7-year event free survival (EFS) and overall survival (OS) of 31.2% and 44.2%, respectively